During a typical patient hospital stay, for example a cardiovascular patient's stay of seven days, that patient may be moved through as many as six different levels of care during that stay, while incurring as many as a dozen surface-to-surface transfers from one bed or stretcher to another as the patient is transferred to, treated in and transferred from a particular care area.
More specifically, the patient would be admitted into the emergency room, and upon being stabilized would then be transferred to the imaging/x-ray department. After having been x-rayed, the patient would then be transferred to the operating room for surgery, and after surgery would then be transferred to the post anesthesia care unit for recovery from anesthesia. From there the patient would be transferred to the surgical intensive care unit for intensive monitoring and care provider intervention should the need arise. Then the patient is transferred to a step-down unit as a transition from intensive care and prior to being transferred to the med/surg unit for routine monitoring. Once routine patient monitoring is completed in the med/surg unit, the patient is discharged from the hospital.
Currently, hospitals generally utilize a specific bed for each level of patient care or care area through which a patient travels along the care path during the entire hospital stay. This traditional patient handling system breaks up the care process into specialized activities requiring multiple beds. For example, a stretcher is employed upon admittance for transporting the patient quickly and conveniently to and between the emergency department, imaging/x-ray and the operating room. In the critical care unit, for example the post anesthesia care unit and surgical intensive care unit, an intensive care bed is utilized. Lastly, in the step-down unit and the med/surg unit, a med/surg bed is utilized. Thus multiple, specialized beds are required for patient care.
In addition, once the patient progresses to the therapy/rehabilitation phase of care, the patient must periodically leave his or her bed and be transported to a therapy area for exercising etc. Such a therapy area is typically outfitted with therapy equipment of various types and kinds which is either purchased or rented by the hospital. Thus currently provided care requires yet another patient transfer.
This traditional means of patient handling with specific beds suited to distinct care levels results in at least two disadvantages. The first disadvantage is the number of beds a hospital must purchase. This for the reason that at least three types of beds are required for each patient during their hospital stay. Assuming just a stretcher bed, intensive care bed and med/surg bed for each patient, and there could be more types of beds for a patient than just these three, a hospital is required to purchase three types of beds or patient supports for each patient the hospital will treat.
The second disadvantage with this traditional bed and patient handling scheme is that the patient must undergo and endure as many as a dozen surface-to-surface transfers from one specialized bed or stretcher to another as the patient moves through the various levels of care of the care path during a patient's hospital stay as well as room changes. Such surface-to-surface transfers and room changes not only require additional staff, labor and time, etc. but can negatively impact the total patient outcome.